"When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, 'How's her weight?' I kid you not"
Kate Winslet is recalling her experience with body-shaming as a young actress.
The 47-year-old “Titanic” star spoke to The Sunday Times about the demeaning comments she would receive in the industry agents early on in her career — first revealing she was often called “blubber” when she was younger and was advised to settle for “fat girl” roles while at acting school.
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In the interview, the actress compared how she was judged back in the day to the pressures women face on social media platforms today.
“It can be extremely negative,” Winslet explained. “People are subject to scrutiny that is more than a young, vulnerable person can cope with.”
“But in the film industry, it is really changing,” Kate added. “When I was younger my agent would get calls saying, ‘How’s her weight?’ I kid you not. So it’s heartwarming that this has started to change.”
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The “Avatar: The Way of The Water” star also said women nowadays — including her 22-year-old daughter Mia — are a lot stronger and outspoken about advocating for themselves.
“My daughter’s generation has an ability to speak for themselves,” Winslet continued. “They have already learned that they will be heard. Obviously not in every situation, but they know how to use their voice — especially young women. That’s striking to me.”
“When I was younger you spoke when spoken to. That is not the case now,” she added. “Young women are stronger. And they’re prouder of their bodies.”
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Back when Winslet starred in breakout films like “Hamlet” and “Titanic” in the late 90s, she faced a slew of body-shaming hate from celebrity tabloids to other public figures like Joan Rivers who once claimed, “If Kate Winslet had dropped a few pounds, the Titanic would never have sunk.”
In an interview with The Guardian in February 2021, Winslet opened up about reading old magazine articles that commented on her body from her earlier days in the industry.
“In my 20s, people would talk about my weight a lot,” she reflected at the time. “And I would be called to comment on my physical self. Well, then I got this label of being ballsy and outspoken. No, I was just defending myself.”
“It was almost laughable how shocking, how critical, how straight-up cruel tabloid journalists were to me,” Kate continued. “I was still figuring out who the hell I bloody well was! They would comment on my size, they’d estimate what I weighed, they’d print the supposed diet I was on. It was critical and horrible and so upsetting to read.”
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